FLEX APPEAL: Week 5

Week 5 has arrived! I dislike (I don’t like to use the word “hate”) the fact that the season is going by so quickly. Either way, here we are and we need to get you that win in week 5. Every week I will help you by looking at the Expert Consensus Rankins (ECR) to make these decisions a little easier on the Sharks. Let’s go ahead and look at some RB3, RB4, WR4 and WR5 types that you can flex during Week 5. Let’s get “flexy”, shall we?

Running Backs

Lindsay continues to impress me. I could put Royce Freeman here as well, really. I like both, yet I own no shares (tis’ life, am I right?) of either. Lindsay has averaged 5.9 yards per carry on the short year, and that’s while out-touching Freeman 45-44 (I know…1 measly carry, but it’s still the lead). For the recency bias folks, Monday night showed Lindsay having 14 touches to Freeman’s 8. This trend should continue when Denver travels to New York to face the Jets. The Broncos’ clearly love Lindsay, and you should too.

Powell is another guy that continues to be disrespected. Ironically, this is on the other side (from Lindsay) of the ball in week 5. Powell continued his growth in running back snaps in week 4, as he out-snapped Isaiah Crowell 36-20. My, how the tides have turned. Powell also saw 7 targets in week 4 (compared to 1 for Crowell). Powell opens up every contest as the starter for the Jets and continues to see more snaps than Crowell (it increases every week). You get it…right? I hope so, as Powell is a great flex this week (and a safe one for the foreseeable future).

Buck Allen never gets any love (reiterating this from last week). Alex Collins was downgraded to “did not practice” (or DNP) on Thursday, so Allen could have the lion-share of running back touches for Baltimore in week 5. In his first 3 games on the season, Allen had 4 touchdowns (3 rushing and 1 receiving), as well as 17 targets in the passing game. Cleveland is not a daunting matchup for running backs, so feel free to use the underappreciated back in week 5 (especially if Collins is out).

Ekeler is being featured here again, folks (so what, sue me…actually don’t). Ekeler’s only game with under 10 fantasy points (in a half-PPR setting) came in week 3 against the Rams, who are the toughest matchup for opposing running backs. Enter Oakland, who are a plus matchup for opposing running backs…well, you see where I’m going with this. Look for Ekeler to receive 8-10 carries and 3-6 targets in what quietly could be a shootout at home against the Raiders. Flex away, Sharks.

About Ryan Black

Ryan is a fantasy football enthusiast who specializes in redraft and keeper leagues. He lives in Yorktown, VA with his beautiful wife, son, and daughter. Feel free to ask him any and everything regarding fantasy football on twitter. It's all about winning that fantasy football championship, Sharks!